On The Set Of Now You See Me, Where Everyone Has A Trick Up Their Sleeve

Mark Ruffalo and Melanie Laurent have both directed movies. Did that make them easier to work with?
They take direction easy. And when they see me, theyíre like, ďOh, I know what heís feeling.Ē Like the first shot of the day when the sun is rising. Or ďOh, I still have sixteen shots in a day.Ē Morgan Freeman has directed a lot of movies, so he knows exactly. Great actors are so easy to direct. Itís like theyíre big 747s that you just have to move left and right, and I donít really need to direct. I need to put them in the right costume, with the right haircut, in the right location, and with the right actor to act with. My job is almost done at this point, because Iíve found the perfect ó itís like cooking, itís like cuisine. You cannot make a great dish with bad ingredients. I have great ingredients, and Iím putting them together. Thatís all Iím doing.

What's the tone of the movie. People were mentioning Sneakers, Oceanís Eleven. What are you thinking for the tone of the film and did you ask the cast to maybe watch any films, or did you watch any films before starting?
Yeah, obviously I watched Sneakers, Oceanís Eleven, Usual Suspects, and all these movies, these heist movies. But for me, the movies I was giving my actors were more like French movies, just for the filming stuff, French movies. Thereís a movie actually Melanie is in, called The Beat My Heart Skipped, itís an unbelievable movie. Itís a remake, actually, of an American movie, James Tobackís Fingers. But thereís a levity about the camerawork that is really inspiring. I was talking to actors, I was like, here is how my camera is going to interact with you. You will be free, and I will capture moments, but itís not going to be about the camera.

Because I was afraid theyíd be like, ugh, the guy from Clash of the Titans is trying to direct me to say these big lines, and itís going to be terrible. But I was like, ďNo no no, Iíve done these big movies, but really what Iím trying to do with this one is really to put you in the right mind or space, and then capture these great moments. Put a great group together and capture these little moments. Iím not trying to impose my style on a new film, like itís just my toy. Iím not interested in this.Ē So thatís what I show them. It didnít really have anything to do with the movie or the tone. Yeah, this movie, the tone is funny. All these people, theyíre fast. Everybodyís having a great time, off-camera but on-camera too. Itís really fun, fast. It feels stupid to say that, but it really is like a thrill ride. Itís really fun and fast. The movie starts first heist seven minutes into the movie, and then you go in and never stop.†